


One Step at a Time

by neonkorok



Series: The Bright Hand Oneshots [2]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Original Work
Genre: According to Kym's family, Again, Angst, Betrayal, Dimension Travel, Does it count as betrayal if the only thing you're doing is making friends?, Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, Family Secrets, Fantasy Racism, Gen, Homesickness, Horseback Riding, Horses, Hurt No Comfort, Introspection, Kym is a SAD GIRL who just wants to go home, Plots to run away, Questioning Beliefs, Well - Freeform, a very small amount of comfort, but as you'll learn, but what can you do, enjoy, home maybe isn't the best place for her to be, it's actually more like the realization that racism is fucking stupid, kind of, kind of sucks, kind of?, questioning family, yes - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:14:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24052681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neonkorok/pseuds/neonkorok
Summary: Riding a horse is easy. Dealing with emotions is not. Kym tries to figure this and other things out as the group continues their journey.
Relationships: Calendor Aratara Vilwanyn/Anemone Gardenia, Kymopoleia "Kym" Ybdis & Anemone Gardenia, Kymopoleia "Kym" Ybdis & Plu
Series: The Bright Hand Oneshots [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1716025
Kudos: 4





	One Step at a Time

**Author's Note:**

> Kym may not act like it, but she is major Sad Girl. Though, if you were spending most of your free time thinking about how everything you're doing is wrong, wouldn't you be sad, too?
> 
> Kym deserves so much more than she gets.
> 
> Also, uh, some things in this are probably pretty spoilery for Kym's character development and backstory, so…have fun with that I guess shshjsj

Riding a horse was not quite as difficult as Kym had always imagined. Once Calendor had shown her the basics, it didn't take long for her to get the hang of things, maneuvering the giant creature with ease, even if she did keep over-correcting her steed with jerky movements. She assumed only time would make her better at the steering portion of riding a horse. Her balance, at least, was impeccable.

She almost wished horses were harder to ride. It would be a welcome distraction right now.

Anemone laughed softly at the front of the group, one hand on the reins of her own horse and one covering the growing smile on her face. Calendor smiled shyly beside her, the look in his eyes only describable as fond. Kym relaxed slightly as she looked upon them. If Calendor could make Anemone laugh so freely after what she'd just been through…well, Kym had seen broken people before, and it was clear that Anemone wasn't going to be one of them. Not with such support in her life. It made Kym breathe just a little bit easier to realize that.

Plu, however, Kym couldn't have such surety of. The small child was riding at the back of the group, and when Kym chanced a glance back at them, their gaze was firmly locked on the ground. The new tunic they'd somehow procured did little to hide the slouch of their shoulders and the dip of their head. They hadn't spoken in nearly two days, and Kym was more than just a little bit worried. She couldn't say that she quite understood what they were going through—death had always been just another stage in the cycle of life for her—but she could see that they were hurting more than they likely ever had because of their new knowledge. It was painful to watch and not know how to help.

Ronald McDonald stumbled as Kym’s fists tightened on the reins, and she loosened her grip to give him more leeway. A sigh escaped her lips as she comforted the creature with a few quick strokes of her hand along his neck. If only people were so easy to reassure.

The whole situation was more frustrating than anything, really. Kym had never struggled to give comfort before, and her inability to aid Plu in their time of need only served as a reminder of just how far away from home she was now. Her siblings would never keep things bottled up inside and refuse to talk to her. They would open up like a vernal pool in the springtime, unfrozen from the need to hide their emotions as soon as they were alone together. To see Plu so shut-up was like a knife through the heart. These people were not her family (which she found herself increasingly needing to be reminded of as the days passed by). They had no reason to trust her with something as sensitive as their feelings. Really, it would be stranger if they did.

That didn't mean it didn't still hurt.

She found herself wishing, not for the first time, that she could just go back home. Maybe once she found her siblings, things would become simpler. She always found that she had a clearer head when she was taking care of her family. If nothing else, finding and rescuing Triton and whichever sister of hers had been so unlucky to wind up in this strange world alongside her would give her a reason to finally leave this group behind.

Anemone laughed again, and Kym winced at the sound.

It wasn't that she _wanted_ to leave the group behind. It was just…complicated, staying here. Helping people who weren't her family, who didn't follow the same principles as her and who didn't hold the same values. She tried not to think about what her parents would say if they could see her now, travelling with utter strangers and doing nothing to get away from them, aiding them just as much as they aided her. Tried not to think about the disappointment she would find in their eyes, the damning words that would flow from their mouths like a river of flames, burning her where she stood. And she would do nothing to stop it. She deserved it, after all.

(She thought of how Mik had been so concerned about Plu being a traitor and almost laughed. If anything, she was the traitor among them. Traveling with _Hylians_ and _Sheikah,_ treating them as _family._ Her parents really would be disappointed.)

Once she finally made her way home, she was going to do her level best to forget that these people had ever existed. It would hurt, but it would be the best thing for everyone. Her parents would never know that she was a traitor, and everything would be just fine. Her siblings wouldn't rat her out, she was sure—they would be too grateful for her saving their lives from the evil king. And if they weren't, she would do whatever it took to earn their silence. She couldn't afford to let her parents know what she'd been up to while she was gone. She just…couldn't.

“Kym?” Anemone asked, suddenly beside Kym, whose head snapped up to look at her.

“Yes?” she asked, trying to hide the fact that she hadn't been paying attention to their surroundings. She prayed that no foul beasts or bandits lurked in the trees and grasses they were traveling through. So much for keeping watch.

“Are you alright?” Anemone asked, face full of concern. “You're very quiet.”

Kym tried to smile reassuringly at her. “Yes, I'm fine. I'm just thinking.”

“About your family?” Anemone guessed, and Kym panicked for a moment before she realized that Anemone probably didn't mean her plot to run away and forget her and the others entirely at the earliest possible moment.

“Yes.” Kym said after a pregnant pause.

Anemone reached over and settled a comforting hand on Kym’s elbow, the only place she could reach. “We'll find them. We'll make sure they're safe.”

Kym nodded, not trusting herself to speak anymore, and Anemone left with another gentle pat on her arm.

Anemone was so selfless and caring. How could Hylians be as horrible as her parents had always said if they had people like Anemone among them? Surely not _all_ Hylians were terrible, greedy people with no sense of morality. If they were, then Anemone would be terrible, greedy, and immoral, too. Kym didn't quite think that was right.

What else had her parents been wrong about all these years?

Kym shook her head to stave off the thought. She had never questioned her parents so openly before, and it scared her how easy it was becoming to do so. This was why she needed to be back home. She wasn't strong enough to keep herself in line. Her parents knew best, they _always_ did. It wasn't her _place_ to question them.

And yet, she did.

She wanted to scream. Everything had been so complicated since she stepped through that portal and made her way to Canaz. From the new gods to the foreign people to their journey that was slowly growing into a quest, everything had been pulling Kym in a hundred different directions. How could she respect nature if she didn't know the wills of the deities that governed it here? How could she stay loyal and true to her family if she was running off on crazy adventures with complete and total strangers? How could she get away from all of this if she was constantly being given more and more reasons to stay that she couldn't simply turn her back on?

 _One step at a time,_ she scolded herself. She needed to take this one step at a time, or something was bound to give. She'd make miles out of individual steps if she didn't think about things too hard. That was how she'd lived the first seventy years of her life, and she wasn't about to change her ways now. At the moment, her only focus should be finding her siblings and ensuring their safety. Everything else would come later. She had to trust in that, or else _she_ would be the one to break.

She gave herself a moment more to compose herself, then straightened out her back, filling herself with a confidence she didn't fully feel. She put on the mask of determination she'd worn so many times before, and saw Anemone give her a small smile from out of the corner of her eye. She smiled back, careful to make it reach her eyes. Anemone didn't need more reason to worry right now. That much, Kym could understand.

She wore her mask as they continued to travel one step at a time towards the place where it felt everything would come to an end. She did not falter, did not stumble, as they left the Forest of Light behind them. She _couldn't._

 _One step at a time,_ she chanted in her head as the trees gave way to open skies. It was the only way to keep her thoughts from growing out of control and taking her down dangerous roads left best untraveled. _One step at a time._

That was the only way.

**Author's Note:**

> Man, I want to give Kym a hug. She really needs it right now and she also definitely deserves it. I just want my fish girl to be happy ;-;
> 
> I mean, I guess I could just _make_ her happy, but then where's the fun in that?
> 
> Anyway! I hope y'all enjoyed :з Writing angst at three in the morning is certainly an experience, let me tell you. Not entirely bad, though. Not at all.


End file.
